The Holy Grail of Marathons

I am registered for the 2013 Boston Marathon.

I had to wait until registration was open to all runners who qualified and hope that being 4 minutes under the qualifying time was enough to get in. It was. I never really worried about this, based on the time margin in last year's registration and the tougher standards this year, plus a warm spring and a warmer-than-usual 2012 Boston Marathon where fewer runners requalified.

I was really on the fence about Boston. On the one hand, I took a calculated risk in assuming I'd be able to build a base back up and train properly. But on the other hand, I registered because I am not sure I will ever qualify again. Most runners have to work really hard for a BQ. I am just not sure I want to or will be able to commit to that kind of training again. You train for the opportunity to attempt a BQ. There is no guarantee that you will get a BQ because anything can happen on race day.

I have a long way to go. I am back on the treadmill and back on the road. That's a step in the right direction. I have to be *really* careful about running outside, specifically about running on hills. The area where I live is hilly. Hills contributed to my tendonitis issue. For now, I am mostly on the treadmill. Yet the Boston Marathon is hilly. Hello, Catch-22.

I will tell you one thing. I am finally excited about Boston.

Marathon Training Week 1

Oh hai. I am supposed to start training for the Boston Marathon this week. I should probably lay out a training plan.

I used some version of Hal Higdon's marathon training plans for all of my marathons. Novice 1 got me though my first 2 marathons. Intermediate 1 got me through my third, and then got me 2 BQs in my fourth and fifth by training slightly faster and farther.

I really like the intermediate plans and don't think the novice plans have enough miles, but I am just not ready for 5 days a week of running. There is a lot that is going to be different this time around. I am coming back from an injury. I have no running base worth speaking of.  I can't just jump into a training plan like I usually do. I need to do more cross-training. At this point, I don't know if my body can handle 3 days in a row of running. I don't *need* to run a fast marathon, and quite honestly I am not sure that I want to.

So I think I am going to use Novice 1 with some modifications. Novice 1 has 2 rest days and 1 cross-training day. I am going to replace one of the rest days with yoga. Seems like a good mix of mileage I can handle (hopefully), cross-training, and rest. Surprisingly, I looked up the plan on Friday and found I was on track mileage-wise. Huh. Funny how that worked out.

My general plan for the week is this:

Sunday - yoga, Monday - easy run, Tuesday - sorta long run, Wednesday - cross-train and strength training, Thursday - rest, Friday - easy run or maybe a pace run every few weeks, Saturday - long run. Plus shorter strength training sessions throughout the week wherever they fit best.

Here's what I did this week:

Sunday - Yoga podcast for an hour. That one sequence of poses is still kicking my butt. Less so than usual, though, so that's good.

Monday - 3.5 miles total. 2.5 miles running at 6.7 mph/9:00 minute pace, the rest walking at 4.3 mph/14:00 minute pace. It was the first run in a long time where not only did my ankle not hurt at all (not even in the beginning) but it actually felt good. Maybe this Boston Marathon business isn't so crazy after all.

Tuesday - 35 minutes on the bike. Shifted cross-training and running days because I ran late on Monday and would have to run early on Tuesday. Didn't want to run too many miles in a 24-hour span.

Wednesday - 3.5 miles total on the treadmill. 3 running, .5 walking.

Thursday - Rest.

Friday - 3.5 miles total on the treadmill. 3 running, .5 walking. Also did upper body strength training, clamshell planks, and foam rolling.

Saturday - About 7.2 miles in Rock Creek Park. Ran 3.5 miles, then fast walked/ran 2.7 miles, then took of my Garmin and walked about another mile to cool down. 

Total miles: 12 running, 17.7 total

Working It

This was my last week before I "officially" start training for the Boston Marathon. Or rather, this is 18 weeks out from the Boston Marathon and I should start training. Hmmm. I am nowhere near ready to jump into a marathon training plan. But we'll see where this goes over the next few weeks.

Sunday - Yoga podcast for an hour. Same one as I have been doing on and off for the last few weeks. It is still kicking my butt with one sequence of poses.

Monday - Upper body strength training, clamshells, planks, and core work.

Tuesday - About 3 miles total, including 1.7 miles running. Outside. In a running skirt and tank top. In December. Note to self: lunchtime workouts where you need to take a shower afterwards are no bueno. Oh, but it was worth it to run outside in beautiful weather.

Wednesday - Rest.

Thursday - 2.8 miles on the treadmill, including 2 miles running. It's been taking about a mile for things to loosen up, but after that it's been pretty good.

Friday - Upper body strength training, pushups, clamshells, and squats.

Saturday - 4.5 miles in Rock Creek Park. Half running, half walking. Pace was on the high end of my pre-injury normal pace (although it still felt hard ... waaaay out of running shape) but faster than what I have been doing. Progress. Patience, self. Slow progress is good. I have missed long runs in Rock Creek Park so very very much. I never get over how quiet and peaceful it is along the creek. I love the sound of running water.

Total miles: 5.95

November Mileage Summary

I have not done one of these in a long time.

Mileage Total: 4.5
Average Distance: .9 mile
Average Speed: 9:05/6.6 mph

Yep, you read that right. I ran a grand total of 4.5 miles in November. 2 miles total in about a week (.5, .5 and 1 mile), then 2.5 miles the following week. I was going to try .5 mile a few times, then increase by .25 mile if everything felt OK. Well, I accidentally jumped from .5 to 1 mile and everything felt OK.

I have lost a lot of endurance. That first time I ran .5 mile at a 9:00 pace was hard. Sure, I tried to keep my cardio up by biking. And then I got discouraged, tried to see if total rest would help, and did more strength training. I am essentially starting from a base of zero (nowhere close to my usual 20-25 miles a week), but I haven't lost my running knowledge. I am going to need it if I am going to make it to the finish line in Boston.

Working It

Base building is here. Base for what?

The Boston Marathon.

Yep, I'm in. I signed up back in September because I wasn't sure I was ever going to qualify again and I still had enough time to get my ankle better.  

I have never gone into marathon training without a base. My training plans were either a step down or pretty what I would run normally (at least in the early weeks). To be honest, I am probably going to go into Boston undertrained. But now is the time to take it slow. The last thing I want to do is injure myself again.

On the plus side, I stopped doing all of the stretches, exercises, and other things that I thought were helping my ankle. Nothing happened when I stopped. So that is a good sign. I need be very careful and see what happens over the next few weeks.

Sunday - Rest. Traveling got in the way of exercise. That usually doesn't happen.

Monday - Core work and clamshell planks in the AM. 3.1 miles on the treadmill in the PM. That included 1.25 

miles running (9 minute pace/6.7 mph) and the rest walking fast (just under 14 minute pace/4.3 mph).

Tuesday - Upper body strength training, planks, clamshell planks, and balance  exercises.

Wednesday - 3.1 miles on the treadmill with 1.25 miles running. Same speeds as Monday.

Thursday - Rest.

Friday - 30 minutes on the stationary bike.

Saturday - 3.4 miles on the treadmill with 1.5 miles running. Same speeds as Monday and Wednesday. Also did pushups and squats.

Total miles: 4

Working It

Sunday - 1 hour yoga podcast, plus clamshell planks, calf raises, and PT stretches, and foam rolling. Still no ankle pain. Good sign.

Monday - 33 minutes / 2.4 miles, including .5 mile running. Same running pace as last time but increased the speed a bit on the walking part. Ankle hurt a little bit immediately afterwards but didn't hurt during or later in the day. I'll take it. Shins felt weird, but maybe that is just from not running regularly for, oh, over 4 months.

Tuesday - Upper body strength training, planks, squats at lunch. Also did clamshell planks in the AM.

Wednesday - Rest. And traveling.

Thursday - Upper body strength training with the resistance band, core work, clamshell planks, pushups.

Friday - 1 mile run (ankle still OK), plus walking to Black Friday shopping.

Saturday - Rest. Or maybe some exercise later, but I am not feeling overly ambitious.

Working It

Of course I post that I think I am finally turning a corner and I have another setback. After having minimal to no pain for more that a week, things were not so good again. But I think that was because of a bad foot cramp while I was doing planks last week.  Maybe? Setback aside, I started having days totally pain-free. I couldn't tell you the last time that happened. This is good, I think.

Sunday - Rest. Oops. Wanted to do yoga but ran out of time.

Monday - Day off for a holiday. 40 minutes on the bike, plus clamshell planks and foam rolling. Also walked about a mile total to run some errands. It was almost 70 degrees. In November.

Tuesday - upper body strength training with the resistance band, pushups, squats, clamshell planks, balance exercises, PT stretches, and foam rolling.

Wednesday - Rest.

Thursday - 35 minutes on the bike, clamshell planks, PT stretches, foam rolling.

Friday - Upper body strength training, planks, twisting crunches with a medicine ball, clamshell planks, and foam rolling at lunch. Can I mention one more time that I am super grateful that I work in a place that encourages employees to use their lunch breaks to exercise? 'Cause I love that.

Saturday - 33 minutes/2.3 miles walking (mostly) on the treadmill. That included .5 mile of running. Also did core work, clamshell planks, PT stretches, and foam rolling. Ankle felt fine and then felt OK for the rest of the day. Still felt fine the next day!

Working It

I know I have said this before, but I finally think my ankle is healing. It has not hurt at all in over a week. And it has felt pleasantly itchy. Healing? I think so. I still am not running and am not sure when I will be back out there. But hopefully soon. Slowly and carefully. Very slowly and very carefully. I am optimistic that these are promising signs.

Sunday - PT stretches, foam rolling, clamshell planks, and 20 minutes of yoga.

Monday - 30 minutes on the bike, clamshell planks, foam rolling.

Tuesday - upper body strength training with the resistance band, pushups, squats, clamshell planks, foam rolling, PT stretches.

Wednesday - Rest, unless stretching and foam rolling count as exercise.

Thursday - 35 minutes on the elliptical. Ankle did not hurt at all during or afterwards. PT stretches, clamshell planks, and foam rolling.

Friday - Upper body lifting, clamshell planks, pushups, regular planks, and balance exercises at lunch. PT stretches, core work, and squats in the evening.

Saturday - 45 minutes on the bike. PT stretches and these lunge-like things. And some time with the good old foam roller.

Turning the Corner?

The good news. I made it through a week with the walking boot, then a half-and-half week.

The upside to being stuck in a walking boot was wearing yoga pants and sneakers (well, one sneaker) to work. I could have worn skirts or regular pants. But I felt pretty self-conscious. By the end, I didn't care, but in the beginning I did. Then I had problems with shoes. The boot has a decent heel to it. Flat shoes were out. I needed a shoe with a little height so that I wasn't walking lopsided. I went to a shopping mall and a grocery store where I got some funny looks. Whatever, people. Most people didn't say anything. Actually, several people didn't even notice for days. Only one person asked me what happened (we decided bar fight sounded better than tendonitis), and only one person offered to open a door. I always found a seat on the Metro.

The bad news. The boot started hurting my foot, and I still wasn't better by the end of 2 weeks. So. very. frustrating. There is a good deal of trial and error with this particular injury, but come on. Really, tendon? Why were you still unhappy? Unhappy tendon made me unhappy. Literally. My mental health took a downward turn over the last several weeks. I was cranky, frustrated, and just not my usual self.

But then there was better news. I started getting through days without pain unassisted by the walking boot or anti-inflammatory meds. You know when you get a cut and it starts to itch when it heals? That's kinda how my ankle felt. Now I gotta start doing my PT exercises again. I kept working on my hips and foam rolling, but I stopped doing anything involving my ankle a few weeks ago. I'm done with actually going to PT. Everything I was doing, I can pretty much do on my own.

So now I wait and see. Again. Very cautiously.

Working It

It was another week with mostly strength training. I think I need to be diligent about foam rolling my calves. Like do it every day diligent.

Maybe ... maybe ... maybe I am back on track and my ankle is finally getting better. Maybe. I've been here before. Things seem to get better and then I have a setback. 

Sunday - Spectating at the Marine Corps Marathon. Walked about 3 miles total. Rang a cow bell for hours. My vocal chords got lots of exercise ;-)

Monday - No work because pretty much everything in DC shut down for Hurricane Sandy. Upper body strength training with a resistance band, pushups, body weight squats, core work, and clamshell planks. And foam rolling.

Tuesday - Another day with no work. Clamshell planks, core work, balance exercises, foam rolling.

Wednesday - Rest.

Thursday - Clamshell planks, pushups, upper body strength training with the resistance band, core work, foam rolling.

Friday - Rest.

Saturday - 30 minutes on the stationary bike. First time doing cardio in I don't remember how long. The good news is that, despite a long time without cardio, it wasn't awful. The even better news is my ankle didn't hurt. Cross your fingers that this keeps up.